An accident involving a Bibb County school bus and a passenger car took place on the morning of Thursday, January 16th. The accident sent a student and the driver of the sedan to a local hospital.
The school bus was transporting 36 students to Howard High School Thursday morning when the driver of a white Nissan Maxima sedan drove headlong into the front of the bus. The driver, Tianitia Tolbert of Macon, Georgia, was reportedly heading in the opposite direction of the bus but crossed into oncoming traffic on Forsyth Road, hitting but school bus’ front bumper.
According to a news release from the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office, Tolbert was hospitalized and is in stable condition. Of the students who were injured, most were treated on the scene while one was taken to the Medical Center of Central Georgia for treatment of minor injuries. That student is also in stable condition.
Forsyth Road was blocked for quite some time as police attempted to investigate the scene of the accident and emergency and wreck vehicles attempted to clear the victims and the vehicle. The students on the scene were transported via a second bus to the Howard High School and Middle School complex, a short distance away from where the accident took place.
The accident took place at seven o’clock in the morning, and sent several ambulances rushing to the scene, though initial reports to the police apparently indicated that there had only been an injury to the driver. Tolbert was tested at the scene and found not to be impaired, though there was an open can of beer in the car. She indicated that she had not been drinking at the time of the accident.
Tolbert has been charged by the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office with an open container violation, failing to maintain lane and with driving with a suspended license. Of the thirty-six students on board the bus at the time, thirty-five were scheduled to be dropped off at the Howard High School and one was on their way to the Hutchings Career Center. The majority of the students were asked to stay on the bus while the accident investigation was conducted, and were apparently in good spirits as they could be seen waving from the bus to a local news photographer.